Lee Biscuits Pontian factory to close at the end of October

The Lee Biscuits Pontian factory in Johor will close at the end of this month, China Press reported. The factory will stop production and has no other production plans, the paper said.

The brand is 92 years old. Many Malaysians know it for its Marie biscuits and soda crackers.

Here are the reported facts, the group behind the brand and the products it made.

Lee Biscuits factory closure: what has been reported

The factory will run until the end of October and then stop, China Press said. It said the company has no other production plans.

Many suppliers and customers got closure notices last month, it said. The factory is also laying off staff. In addition, the company’s website cannot be opened.

China Press gave no staff number. However, Seehua reported that about 300 employees will be laid off. It cited management confirming the closure to Oriental Daily.

Seehua also said the factory assets are expected to be resold. It said management called the move part of the group’s overall plan, and not a result of losses.

Pekan Nanas assemblyperson Tan Eng Meng confirmed to China Press that he had received news of the closure. China Press linked the decision to the group’s business restructuring, as did The Rakyat Post.

The Lee group and its second Johor food factory closure

The brand belongs to the well-known Lee group in Southeast Asia, China Press said. Also, its headquarters is in Pontian, Johor. It was founded in 1934 by Lee Kong Chian.

China Press described him as a businessman and philanthropist known as the “Rubber and Pineapple King” of Southeast Asia. The production line moved to Pontian in 1955.

However, this is not the first. It is the group’s second food factory closure in Johor in three years, it said. The first was a pineapple cannery at the eight-and-a-half-mile mark in Skudai.

China Press called that plant 92 years old. It closed on 1 November 2023, and the closure drew wide attention at the time.

Seehua said the group may no longer make biscuits. It said the group has no plans for other biscuit brands.

Marie biscuits and the other products Lee Biscuits made

China Press listed the brand’s core products. They are soda crackers, Marie biscuits, banana crisps, lemon sandwich biscuits, iced gem biscuits and animal biscuits.

It also said the brand was among the first in Malaysia and Singapore to launch a spirulina wholemeal biscuit.

A Marie biscuit is a plain, lightly sweet, round tea biscuit. London bakery Peek Freans created it in 1874, Wikipedia says. It marked the marriage of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia to the Duke of Edinburgh, the Sunday Times reported.

However, other makers also sell Marie biscuits in Malaysia, so the biscuit itself will stay on shelves. Wikipedia lists several Malaysian makers.

Meanwhile, The Rakyat Post said the Lee tin has sat on shop and supermarket shelves for generations. It said many people see the news as the end of an era.

The news spread online, and many people said they felt sad, China Press said. Many said it was the taste they grew up with.